Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Online or Social media marketing - what has worked for you? finder's fees?

[Don Benson (benson6451]

Judy

Great question and from our marketing perspective we occasionally review our 
efforts by thinking about the following - 
1.  What is our objective of the marketing, e.g., awareness about co-housing, 
awareness about your community, (re)sales, etc.;
2.  What is our budget for marketing, e.g., is there an outreach team, how much 
member time per month, how much money per month;
3.  What are the various media/methods do we use for marketing and how do they 
fit together to reach our intended audience; 
4.  Do we track the productivity or return rate by media/method based on your 
objectives and costs; and
5.  What do we do with inquiries, e.g., maintain relationship, tours, buddy's, 
ongoing invitation to events, refer to other communities when appropriate, etc.

Our basic marketing efforts include 
1.  a web site;
2.  an Outreach Team to manage the process;
3.  a buddy system for developing 1-2-1 relationships with interested people 
that can continue through move-in (when that happens);
4.  a organized Path to Community to introduce interested people to our form of 
co-housing community; 
5.  an annual, open, late summer outdoor party;
6.  listing on the national co-housing site;
7.  collaborating with other intentional communities in the Portland area with 
     a.  regular meetings to share information and problem solve, 
     b.  help each other with resources; and 
     c.  occasionally to exhibit with them at the 
http://www.betterlivingshow.org/; and
8.  We attempt to develop relationships with realtors to help them understand 
how we are not just a condo association.
And, I am sure I am missing something.

In addition, occasionally our local newspaper runs articles on co-housing and 
we are included in sociology research in local universities, and one local 
college includes a tour of our community in a undergraduate survey class in 
Urban Studies.

We have not paid for ads and our community does not seem to have anyone willing 
to commit to engaging in the social network approach (this is a big element).

Don Benson
Trillium Hollow
503.296.7249

On May 21, 2012, at 9:00 PM, Judy Baxter wrote:

> 
> Hi Cohousers -
> We've been marketing for many years,  mostly flyers, a web page, and print
> ads.
> Now we're wondering how to adapt to the new world of social media, other
> on-line possibilities.
> 
> We've done a few Craig's list ads, a posting on Zillow, put a toe into
> Google adwords but didn't spend the time to really figure out all the
> options and complexities. Any experiences, advice, will be welcome.
> Thanks,  Judy